I have been working on a very long term project whereas I do a brief recap of Twins games on my “In This Day in Twins History Pages.” So my plan is to give you a brief recap of the Twins first season as it plays out on a weekly basis. For more info on a particular game you can also click on the date and go to the appropriate “In This Day in Twins History Page” as there you will often get to see some player pictures and supporting documentation. We will see how long I can keep up with it, no promises. So let’s see what we have for week twenty-three.
The Minnesota Twins begin this week with a 62-81 record and they are officially playing out the string after being mathematically eliminated from any shot of winning the AL pennant. They are currently in eighth place in the AL but have a chance to move up a spot or two.
September 14 game one – On a day originally scheduled to be an off day, the Twins and Angels played a twin-bill originally scheduled for September 12th. On a cool overcast evening with the temp at first pitch recorded at 51 degrees and winds blowing at 16 MPH the Met Stadium crowd was sparse even though owner Calvin Griffith deemed it Ladies Day. The local paper had the attendance at 1,856 while Baseball-Reference has it 1,605, either way, the crowd was small. In game one Twins starter Don Lee faced off against Angels starter Ted Bowsfield and the Angels took a quick 2-0 lead in the first and added one on in the second for a 3-0 lead. Bowsfield cruised along until the Twins finally scored a run, albeit unearned, in the sixth on Harmon Killebrew Sac Fly after Billy Martin doubled and moved to third on an error. That was all the Twins could muster against Bowsfield (10-6) and Jim Donohue who pitched the ninth to get the save. Lee dropped to 3-6 going 8 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned on 6 hits. Earl Battey had two of the Twins five hits and Martin’s double was the only extra-base hit be either team. The game was over in a expeditious 2 hours and 1 minute and I don’t think the crowd minded one bit. Box Score game one
September 14 game two – Game two saw Twins starter Jim Kaat pitch a gem although it didn’t start out that way. Eddie Yost led off the game with a single and Joe Koppe followed with another single and the Angels had runners at the corners. Kaat proceeded to wild pitch Yost in for what would turn out to be the only run the Angels would see in this game. The 22-year old lefty would not allow another hit until the ninth inning and at one point retired 23 Angels in a row. Kaat finished the game with a flourish by striking out Ken Hunt and Steve Bilko and set a new personal best strikeout mark with 10. Kaat allowed the Angels just three hits and 2 walks as he won his eighth game of the season against fifteen losses in a hurried 2 hours and 23 minutes. Lenny Green had two of the Twins five hits including a triple which was the only extra-base hit be either team. Box Score game two
September 15 – At Cleveland Stadium, 22-year-old Sudden Sam McDowell makes his major league debut and pitches six scoreless innings, striking out 7. He leaves after one out in the 7th with a 2-0 lead after his hard throwing causes him to breaks two ribs. With two out in the 9th, the Twins score three times to win, 3 – 2 getting 5 of their 8 hits in the ninth inning. Lee Stange, in relief, gains his first major league win. Jim Lemon is 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI while Jake Jacobs contributes 2 hits from the lead-off spot as he played in a Twins uniform for the first time. Jacobs had appeared briefly in six games for the Washington Senators in 1960 getting just two plate appearances Those two hits are the only ones that Jacobs will get in his big league career. Jim Snyder made his major league debut in this game playing second base and going 0 for 3. Box Score
September 16 – The Cleveland Indians and Barry Latman came out on top in a tight pitchers duel with the Minnesota Twins and Pedro Ramos and it’s a shame that only 2,946 baseball fans showed up at Cleveland Stadium to watch it. The only scoring took place in the fifth inning when Ramos gave up a gopher ball to shortstop Woodie Held to lead off the inning and the Indians followed that with a Jack Kubiszyn single and a Valmy Thomas double that scored Kubiszyn. The Twins who had only four hits, two by Billy Martin, didn’t get a runner past second base and never had more than one runner on the bases at any point in the game. Ramos went eight innings and deserved a better fate but his tendency to give up the long ball hurt him once again and his record dropped to 11-18. Latman (13-4) garnered the complete game shutout, the tenth time that the Twins have been shutout this season. Box Score
September 17 – A huge Minnesota Vikings NFL debut as they trounce the Chicago Bears 37-13 at Metropolitan Stadium pushes the Minnesota Twins sweep of a twin-bill at Cleveland Stadium to page two of the Star Tribune sports page. We will learn over the years that the Vikings do indeed own the Minnesota sports landscape from day one. But we are here to talk Twins baseball so let’s get to it. In game one Camilo Pascual pitches a complete game eight-hit shutout, his seventh of the season as he strikes out nine and wins game number fourteen against fifteen losses. It wasn’t easy and Pascual struggled through the first five innings before getting things under control and retiring 14 of his last 16 batters. Joe Altobelli hit cleanup for the Twins and did his job going 2 for 4 including a home run with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Lenny Green and Billy Martin also had two hits each. Indians starter Jim Perry (10-15) took the loss. Box Score game one
September 17 – In game two the Twins again scored five runs and Twins starter Al Schroll with relief help from Ray Moore in the eighth inning held on for a 5-3 win giving the Twins a sweep on the day and moved them into seventh place. Schroll went 7.2 innings allowing 3 runs of which only 1 was earned on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out four, earning the win to even his record on the season at 3 wins and 3 losses. Hal Naragon had two of the Twins six hits and Joe Altobelli was again in the middle of the action when in the second inning he beat out a slow roller to second for a hit, advanced to second when Allison walked, went to third when Naragon flew out to center field and then scored on a passed ball. Mudcat Grant (14-9) went seven for the Indians giving up all five runs and taking the loss. The 66-83 Twins are now off to Washington where they will play their final road series of the season against the ninth place Senators. Box Score game two
September 18 – No game today, scheduled day off.
September 19 – On a misty evening at Griffith Stadium only 1,980 baseball fans show up to watch their new Washington Senators take on the old Washington Senators who we all now know as the Minnesota Twins and they witnessed a 3-1 Twins win over their new team. Twins starter rookie Jim Kaat pitched a complete game allowing just one run on six hits while fanning six Senators. Kaat is really starting to come into his own, posting win number 9 against 15 learning experiences. The Twins who were held to seven hits themselves took an early 2-0 lead in the second on a ground-rule double by Earl Battey, a run-scoring triple by Bill Tuttle and a RBI single by Zoilo Versalles. Versalles who missed the last few games due to tiredness had another RBI in the seventh inning. Joe McClain started for Washington and went seven solid innings but took his eighteenth defeat of the season. Box Score
September 20 – The Twins versus Washington Senators game at Griffith Stadium was rained out and rescheduled to be played as part of a DH at Met Stadium when the Senators are in town over the week-end on September 23.
The Twins finished a week with a 5-2 mark moving up a notch in the AL standings into seventh place. The New York Yankees have locked up the AL pennant and the Cincinnati Reds have a stranglehold on the NL pennant with a five game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
